MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia Republicans gathered in Morgantown Saturday for the 2020 Winter Meeting.
GOP chairwoman Melody Potter said the party has been gaining momentum for the last several years.
“Twenty years ago 65 percent of the voter registrations in West Virginia were Democrats,” Potter said. “As of the end of January 2020 the voter registrations reflected the Democrats are now under 40 percent.”
Potter said she has heard stories across the state of lifelong Democrats and people who have never voted are registering with the GOP.
As the May primary election approaches Potter said contested races are a sign of a strong party.
“We have a lot of party unity, but the fact that we have people that are running for office with challengers is a sign of a growing party,” Potter said. “After the primary, and during the general election our party will get behind whoever wins the primary and push them across the line.”
Potter said as national Democrat candidates appear to adopt more left-leaning policies they alienate members of the party in the Mountain State.
“Our two platforms, the national and the state platforms, are the most conservative they have been in 40 years,” Potter said. “There are still people in West Virginia are registered as Democrats, but they share our party’s values and we welcome them to our party.”
Potter also urged people to get out and vote on election day.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to vote, if the folks in Afghanistan could travel 20 miles to dip their finger in the ink, and some of them even had their fingers cut off by the Taliban,” Potter said. “Surely we can get in our air conditioned and heated cars and vote, it’s so important to have our voices heard.”